No fast answers on 'Don't Ask'

Carol J. Williams, Tribune NewspapersCHICAGO TRIBUNE

President Barack Obama's campaign vow to end the ban on gays in the military -- and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that forces thousands of military personnel to stay in the closet -- appears to be driven now by a strategy of "Don't Rush."

The recent coming-out by dozens of gay West Point graduates, including Arabic language specialist Lt. Daniel Choi, has spotlighted the conflicting policies and put pressure on Congress and the White House to make good on promises to repeal them.

A report issued this month by the University of California, Santa Barbara, Palm Center research institute asserted that Obama already has the power to thwart what he sees as discrimination in discharging military personnel for their sexual orientation. Under the stop-loss provision, Obama can issue executive orders to retain any soldier deemed necessary to the service at this time of national emergency, the report noted.

The president also could halt the work of Pentagon review panels that brand soldiers as gay and thus excluded from service, according to the report. And the president and his defense secretary could revise discharge procedures, as allowed under the 1993 statute.

Proponents of integrating openly gay soldiers point to the loss of important skill sets -- such as Choi's fluency in Arabic and independent study of Persian -- as unacceptable costs of an outdated and unfair policy.

"The president has made his strategic intent very clear, that it's his intent at some point in time to ask Congress to change this law," Mullen said, appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "I think it's important to also know that this is the law, this isn't a policy. And for the rules to change, a law has to be changed."

For now, the military is busy fighting two wars, Mullen said. And neither Congress nor the White House appears eager to reopen the debate over gays in the military that transpired during the Clinton administration.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said recently that it would be "difficult" for the military to restructure units to accommodate gays. National Security Adviser James Jones also reacted coolly to lifting the ban.

"They're caught in a political double bind," said Aaron Belkin, director of the Santa Barbara institute. "If they move too quickly, they will expend political capital with the military and Congress. Yet if they move too slowly, they will alienate a core constituency and fail to deliver on a very clear campaign promise."